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Possible spoilers?
So I am about to run the Emerald Spire super dungeon. There are two pretty big towns that the PCs can visit. The first is Fort Inevitable which is run by a few orders of Hellknights.
I really want to show the good and bad of Fort Inevitable. I think it will be easy to show the strict way of dealing with law breakers. What I am having a hard time thinking of ways to show that while the laws are strict they are actually beneficial to the town.
For Thornkeep I am kinda looking for the opposite. Thornkeep is kinda a haven of crime since its a place for criminals to reside. I need ideas as to how to show that its a rough place. One of my ideas if the group enters Thornkeep that they get hit up at the entrance by the "guards" requiring to pay for access and maybe even have to pay to leave.
Any ideas would be most appreciative.
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The only problem with the Thornkeep idea is that it isn't cannon with the Thornkeep write-up. The only established guards pretty much protect the castle/keep unless they is something serious to deal with (or collecting taxes). The various groups of the Blades basically keep "order" in the town itself. There are also no "gates" to Thornkeep, except maybe at the castle proper, which doesn't appear to be open to visitors typically. The rest of Thornkeep is the hamlet that surrounds the keep.
Of course, this is your adventure and so Thornkeep can be whatever you make of it.
Some alternate ideas:
- PCs routinely shaken down by bandits while approaching Thornkeep, each bearing tattoos/symbols of 3 daggers
- PCs encounter a thief in their room, with 3 dagger symbol (keep playing up how 3 daggers are basically the top dogs)
- PCs discover that town business are aligned with one of the Blade's factions, each providing protection from being shaken down by the 3 daggers (especially those directly aligned with the 3 daggers)
- PCs have to pay extra fees for goods and take less on sales so the business can pay their dues to whichever Blades member is 'protecting' that business
- PCs see that goblins are commonplace in Thornkeep, perhaps witnessing how the gobos sort through other's trash and find and pocket interesting things
- PCs find out that trading with the gobos can be lucrative, assuming you can trust them; then attacked by gobos later to get their stuff
- Same as above, but for trading with the store that is a front for the 3 daggers
- The main cleric and also the leader of the Hunter's lodge have a strong desire to put real order back into the town. Encounters with them can add more to what is going on.
- Bring them through enough of Thornkeep to learn more about Nur Athemon (libraries in Forgetten labs, enigma vaults; sphinx in dark menagerie; former apprentices in the santcum all can serve to play up Nur Athemon)
For Fort Inevitable, my players would witness "justice" being meted out from time to time. Guards who came through with caravans who got into fights or stole were branded, sold into slavery, or hanged. Those who couldn't pay taxes were auctioned into indentured servitude, etc. It wasn't frequent, but would happen every week or so.
BUT as a counter, my players understood Fort Inevitable was "safe." No one would steal from them, no one accosted them at night, their rooms in the inn were untouched, and deals were kept. Further, Fort Inevitable had a lot of caravans and crusaders come through. Caravan owners wanted a safe place to stable for a few days, and so Fort Inevitable had a thriving economy. Because of this, the Party walked the line, made friends with the more merciful townsfolk, and stayed at Fort Inevitable.
They did visit Thornkeep frequently, and while they could be more free they were constantly aware that thieves, goblins, and worse would be prowling about. They saw that places like the Goldenfire Order kept security through threat of force, and not because anyone was protecting them. But the taxes were a lot better.
The suggestions above are great ideas for little things to go wrong at Thornkeep. It doesn't have to happen all the time, but people should try to steal, accost, and otherwise harass the PCs at Thornkeep from time to time. They may see the wisdom in paying taxes for safety, or they may carve out a niche in Thornkeep that lets other locals know not to mess with them.